Ads of the Weird : Sports

Olympics advertisers go for the ... same idea

Allison Linn — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT

They have at least four years to prepare, tons of resources to devote to the cause and the knowledge the world will be watching.

So why is it that, every time the Olympics roll around, so many advertisers trot out the same familiar formula: the montage of dramatic athletes' images accompanied by a lush musical score and/or a deep-voiced narrator?

Even before the opening ceremony’s fiery conclusion, too many of this season’s Olympic ads had started to blend together into one seemingly indistinguishable montage, separated only by Bob Costas and the actual events.

VISA

We were disappointed not to see more originality from the sponsors, but we have to admit that some of the commercials, while still formulaic, nevertheless stuck out from the fray.

We loved that Visa’s "Go World" commercials focused on the worldwide aspect of the Olympic Games, and highlighted athletes from more countries than just the United States.

The photo montage also was among the most arresting of the bunch, and the other ads in the series were equally well done. Also, if you’re going to stick with a stereotypical deep-voiced narrator, you might as well go top-shelf and call Morgan Freeman.

We also were captivated by Nike’s "Courage" commercial, with its lightning-fast series of images of athletes, animals and other visuals from around the world. The catchy soundtrack from The Killers perfectly matched the ad’s frenzied pace.

Home Depot’s obligatory series of images focused on the athletes that it employs. While it's always nice to see athletes in the lesser-publicized sports highlighted, the ad felt like something we'd seen too many times before. Instead, we would have liked to see those athletes called out in a more original, and memorable, way.

Thankfully, a few companies elected to go against the grain with ads that didn’t follow the photo montage formula.

The best of the bunch was Coca-Cola’s whimsical "Bird’s Nest" commercial, which features a series of quirky, cartoonish birds making their own nest -- modeled after the Olympic stadium by the same name -- out of straws swiped from Coke containers. We hope that the environmental destruction isn’t so bad in Beijing that actual birds are resorting to use plastic straws for their nests, but as a flight of fancy, it works.

Gatorade scores a surprise home run

Allison Linn — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT

The video circulating the Internet these days looks at first like any other snippet of a minor league baseball game, right down to the announcer’s play-by-play banter.

Then comes a hit to left field and, out of nowhere, the ball girl executes an amazing, Spider-Man-like move up the wall to catch the foul ball, tossing it nonchalantly back to a flabbergasted player before taking her seat again.

At this point, the 39-second video seems more like one of those outtakes you might see replayed endlessly on the big screen between innings. In fact, the video in question is an ad for Gatorade, although your only hint that that’s the case is a bottle of the sports drink that the ball girl sips upon taking her seat again.

Gatorade

Stranger still, the makers of Gatorade insist that although they did make the viral video, they didn’t intend to distribute it and they aren't even sure how it got out to the public. The company said they are pleased that it appears to be getting tons of views, and have no plans to put a stop to it.

“This has all been a pleasant surprise, so why not let it happen?” spokeswoman Jill Kinney said.

As more viewers adopt technology that allows them to fast-forward through television ads, the Internet has become a prime new medium for companies to ply their wares.

Unfortunately, most of the efforts have been weak, ranging from companies who can’t even be bothered to put their traditional ads on the Web to those who build elaborate Web sites that require way too much time and effort on the part of the user.

Gatorade’s viral ad is much better than that -- it gets your attention, doesn’t take much time to watch and provokes your curiosity. Also, it’s easy enough to share with friends.

Kinney said the sports drink maker originally thought about using the video as a starting point for a more traditional ad campaign, but those plans have been scrapped for now.

That’s too bad, because it seems like this would have been a great launching pad for a pairing between old mediums and new ones -- another area where many companies are still struggling.

On the other hand, at this point Gatorade may feel like it doesn’t need to expend the money and energy required to expand the campaign. Thanks to the mysterious leak, the promotion is out there and it’s garnering Gatorade a lot of attention.

Click here to watch the ad.

Running, we just can’t quit you

Allison Linn — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:00:00 GMT

When most companies want to sell a product, they try to tell you how fun the product is, how much you need it (even if you never realized it!) or how much more you’ll like doing your favorite activities because you have this great, new item.

The running shoe company New Balance is trying a different approach.

The company’s latest campaign, which launched during the NCAA basketball tournament, begins with an image many can relate to – a man sleeping soundly, only to be forced out of bed for the sake of workout.

“You are in a relationship with running. A love/hate relationship,” the narrator intones.

New Balance

You probably think you know what happens next: Our hero will trudge out onto the street, his resolve and joy growing stronger each time his New Balance shoes hit the pavement.

Well, the commercial seems to start off that way, but then it veers into strange territory. The hero’s morning run takes him, incongruously, from a sleepy neighborhood into a futuristic urban jungle, where everything is red-hued, including the water, and the buildings seem to defy gravity. Soon, he is being chased by other runners, who seem more like bad guys in an action flick than inspiring competitors. Eventually, he flings himself off a building into another futuristic, slightly cartoonish world.

Meanwhile, New Balance keeps hammering home the idea that the sport on which their business relies is, frankly, a bit torturous.

“It is a constant balance. A balance between joy and pain. Work and play. A balance between love and hate. Everything we do is geared towards tipping the balance. This is the new balance.”

The love/hate theme is a risk, but it’s one that’s likely to score points for empathy and realism. After all, most of us do look toward our workouts with a mixture of pleasure and dread, and one would think that counts double for the type of hardcore runners who are most likely to frequently buy high-end running shoes.

But the weirdly lit, futuristic theme is distracting and nonsensical. If the ad is about being honest about the pleasure and the pain of running, why inject fantasy into the mix? The commercial leaves the viewer with too many far-flung questions: Who are those other, slightly menacing-looking runners? Did global warming make the ocean red? Did the runner do permanent damage to his knees when he jumped off that building (and why did he jump off that building in the first place)?

New Balance is launching several commercials using the same theme of running as your partner in a dysfunctional love/hate relationship. But while the flagship ad distracts us with its futuristic weirdness, the other commercials get our attention with their quirky form of honesty in advertising.

Click here to watch the ad, or click here to see the campaign on the New Balance Web site.